Officials: Runaway Kite To Blame For Rockland County Fire
NEW HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A runaway kite caused a whole lot of trouble early Friday morning in Rockland County.
A plastic kite that had become tangled in some power lines ignited a fire outside a home in the Village of New Hempstead around 1 a.m., 1010 WINS reported.
"The neighbors told us that it's been up in the wires for a while and apparently the kite string kept turning on the wire," Orange and Rockland Utilities spokesman Michael Donovan told 1010 WINS. "It kept wrapping itself around the wire and eventually created a short on the wire."
The power lines and sparked a fire on a lawn that officials later realized was being fueled by an underground leaking natural gas line, police said.
"There was about a 10-foot square of grass that was on fire and being fed by the gas that was coming out of the service to the house," Donovan said.
O&R cut power to some residents and shut off the natural gas so firefighters could extinguish the blaze.
Some residents were also evacuated as a precaution. They were allowed back in their homes and service was restored once the gas leak was found and repaired, police said.
No injuries were reported.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories:
